Once upon a lovestory
by mihaela30
Summary: An old woman tells her gran-children a story about Aira, a simple girl that is treasured by her village, and Deidara, the guy that fell in love with her. How will their story end? And what is the old lady's role in the story? Deidara xOC


It was a cold day, the wind blowing harshly outside. Everyone was inside their cozy, warm houses, not even daring to go outside. Not too far from the village, near a frozen lake, there was a cottage. If we look inside, we can see an old lady sitting on her rocking chair, near the fireplace, looking from the scarf she was knitting towards her grandchildren. Her husband was outside, splitting the fire wood. The children were running around, playing catch. The red-headed girl was it and she was trying to catch her little brother, without knocking everything down. The blonde-reddish boy was clearly at an advantage since he concentrated only on running, while his sister had to dodge the table, the chairs and even the walls. Their grandma watched them with a smile on her wrinkled by time face. She remembered her time as a child and everything she did and how she got grounded. She should tell them to stop, but they were having so much fun that she almost wanted to run together with them. But, of course, her old and tired body was against that. Soon, the children stopped to run and turned to their grandma.

"Grandma, can you tell us that story again, please?" asked the girl

"Yeah, ganny, pwease?" asked the boy not being able to pronounce the 'r' and 'l' correctly, while giving her the adorable puppy-look that no one can resist. Of course, their grandma couldn't resist. He was so cute, that she had to scoop him up and put him in her lap, while stroking his blonde-reddish hair. The girl sat next to her on the bear fur that was on the floor, and looked at her grandma expectantly.

"Okay, but this time you will listen to the end." She said in her sweet, wise, grandma voice. They both nodded and perked up as she started the story, looking in the fire as it would start picturing the story she was telling.

"A long time ago, there was a village not too far from here." She started. "In that village lived a young, beautiful girl. She was considered the most beautiful girl in the village, not only because of her fair skin, long, red hair and blue eyes, shining with the spark of innocence and thoughts of romance. She was also a kind, helpful and friendly girl. She was always helping her friends and villagers, without asking anything in return. She always had a good word for everyone and she simply was the villagers' precious treasure. She also had a spirit for adventure, but she never passed the borders of her village. Her family was long gone, so she was living with a couple of elders that never had children. She helped them by cleaning, cooking, washing, sewing, telling them stories when they were bored and many more. Of course, at the same time, she was working at a tea-shop so she could earn her own money for her clothes and other necessities. She couldn't count on the couple anytime she wanted a book or clothes. The name of this hard-working, kind girl was Aira, as far as we know. And, of course, she had a lot of boys courting her and asking her on dates, but she always turned them down in a friendly way."

"But why did she refused them?" asked the girl, interrupting the flow of the story. The old lady looked away from the fire at the girl that was holding one of her legs.

"Well, honey, if she would have accepted one of them, then we wouldn't have a story to tell, would we?" she asked the girl that shook her head. "And she didn't want to accept them because she felt that they weren't the one. She felt that she should wait until he appeared and took her on his white horse. That was her dream, I guess. That her prince comes and sweeps her off her feet and takes her away to live their adventure" the old lady said wisely, this time looking out the window at her husband who was still chopping wood. "In a way, that is what every girl is dreaming of when they are young" she concluded.

"Will a prince come for me too?" the girl asked, looking at her grandma with hope in her little blue eyes.

"Of course, honey. He may not be exactly a prince, but for you he will be that and even more" she answered.

"What about you, gwanny? Did you find you pwince?" asked the boy with his little speech impediment, looking questioningly at her.

"Yes, I did. He is outside at this moment, chopping wood for the fire." She answered, looking again outside, at her husband, and then at her nephew with a smile on her face. "Shall we continue?" she asked the children and they nodded excitedly.

"Where was I? Ah, she ignored the boys from her village and was waiting for her prince to arrive" she continued, staring again in the fire. "Well, as I said, she was working in a tea-shop and she was getting along with her colleagues, boss and customers. She helped everyone with an advice, a helping hand or even a kind smile and a hot tea. She never thought that her kindness and warm smile could change her life forever.

On a cold, stormy day, two strangers entered the tea-shop. They were wearing black cloaks with red clouds on them, and straw hats which they took off as soon as they escaped from the storm outside. One of them had short, red hair and soft, brown eyes, and his face was flawless and, she had to admit, gorgeous. The other one had long, blonde hair that was pulled in a ponytail, and a bang that was covering his left eye. His visible eye was a soft blue, which seemed to hold the entire sky in it. At a first glance, anyone could mistake him for a girl, but Aira didn't. His face held the harshness of a man, and there was a sharp edge in his eyes. When she first saw him, her heart skipped a beat. She knew that her prince finally arrived. They took a seat in the almost empty tea-shop and called her over.

"What can I get for you?" she asked with a gentle smile on her face.

"Two cups of green tea, please" said the red-head

"Yes, sir, immediately. Anything else?" she asked politely the two.

"That is all at the moment" answered the same guy, while the blonde just looked at her, like studying her, making her blush from his intense stare.

Aira just took off to bring their order and on her way she checked with the other customers to be sure they didn't need anything else. When she came back with the tea cups, the two men were in an argument about art and didn't even notice her.

"Excuse me. Here are your cups of tea" she said, trying to capture their attention. The two stopped arguing, turning their attention on her, waiting for her to say something else. Then, the red-head asked her something that, depending on her answer, could bring her in a bad situation.

"What do you think about art? Is it eternally or fleeting?" the question made her froze, knowing very well that if she took sides with one of them, the other wouldn't respond very well. So, she decided to be truthfully and say what she really thinks about art.

"Well" she started "I think art means both things" she answered, making them look at her in a strange way that made her want to just disappear from that place.

"How can art be both, un?" asked the blonde.

"Well, you see, in my opinion, art is both because when you look at a painting, even if it is there for all eternity, you can not see it the whole time. You can look at it for minutes, hours, but after that you will go on to the next piece of art, leaving it behind. And if you look at fireworks, for example, which are fleeting, only for some seconds, the memory of them will always be engraved in your heart and mind, and that memory will live forever there, until the day you die. So, the art is both eternally and fleeting. At least, that is what I think about art." She said, looking at their faces for any sign of anger or anything bad.

They just looked at her for a few seconds, then the red-head turned his head to his cup of tea and took a sip. The blonde was still staring at her.

"Interesting opinion. If we look at art the way you view it, then yes, you are right." Answered the red-head, while sipping calmly at his tea. "But, you see, we can not agree with it, because then we would agree with each other, and that can not possibly happen" said the read-head. He stood up, paid for his tea and just left without saying another word, leaving his friend behind, the blonde still staring at her. She just looked after the red-head for a second, then turned her eyes on the blonde. She took the money from the table and when she wanted to leave, a grip on her hand stopped her from leaving.

"Stay with me, un. My partner just left me here alone and I don't have with whom to talk to. Ad you see like an intelligent girl that can stand her side of the argument." He said, making her sit down, while looking at her with his soft blue eye. She only blushed, sitting down at the table and talking with the stranger.

"My name is Deidara, un. Sorry about Sasori-danna leaving like that" he said

"It is okay. I am Aira. Nice meeting you" she answered, smiling at the blonde.

And they started talking, first about art, then after anything else that came to their mind. Lucky for her that it was a storm outside and she didn't have many customers, so she could talk with him almost all the time. He was a charming man, playful and made her laugh a lot. She knew from that conversation that he was the one. She didn't need anyone else. What she did not know was what he felt for her and what would the villagers say. The ones in the tea-shop already started talking amongst themselves about the stranger that could take their treasure away from their village.

"It was fun talking to you, Aira. If only Sasori-danna could be like you" he said, sighing. "How about we meet after you finish work and you could show me around the village. We have so much to talk about" he offered, making her blush and her heart start beating fast.

"Sure. I can do that and you can tell me more about the life outside the village, okay?" she replied

"It's a deal then. See you after work" he said, paying for his tea then leaving, winking at her.

After that, she couldn't wait until she was done with everything, so she could see the blonde. She was all day with the head in the clouds and was happy that she could find out more about other villages and how is life like an adventurer. When the time came, Deidara was outside, waiting for her. They just walked around town, Aira showing him everything that was worthy of showing and telling him about the village history. Finally, she took him to her favorite place. There was near the exit of the village, a big Sakura tree, that was older than the city, at least that was what she read. She loved spending her free time underneath it, reading, relaxing or even sleeping. They just sat down, looking at the sky from their spot.

"I really had a good time today, Aira-chan. You know so much about this village and it is so easy to talk to you. If I could spend every day only talking with you, I would have a wonderful life. But soon I have to leave, and I am afraid that I would never pass through this village ever again." He said, looking at the sky, missing the sadness that appeared on her face. "Still, I have to ask you this. Will you come with me, even though I can not give you a stabile home?" he asked, looking this time at her surprised face. She would have gladly said yes, but she had to know why was he asking her that.

"Why are you asking me this?" she asked

" Because I feel that you are special. I do not know exactly why, but whenever I am with you, I feel like I can be myself and talk with you forever, without fearing that you will hate me. You have grown on me in this one day, and I know that this feeling could grow into something beautiful, into our own work of art." He answered, taking her hand and looking into her eyes. Hearing his answer, her heart couldn't stop from

soaring to the sky from happiness and her face lit up with a smile.

"I will come with you where ever you go, because I feel the same way. I know that everything will be alright as long as we have each other" she answered, hugging him.

"Then tonight we leave. We will meet here, under the Sakura tree after ten." He explained about their leave, not noticing the figure that was slowly departing from them after hearing that.

As soon as they departed, promising that they will meet after ten in the same spot, she left towards her home, gathering a few of her things and saying her good-bye to the old couple that raised her. They cried at the news of her leaving, but they understood that she was young and in love, and that she needs to go her own way. After that she only waited for the time to pass quickly so she could meet up with Deidara. When the clock announced that it was ten, she departed after hugging the old couple one more time. Arriving at their meeting point, she saw that a few villagers surrounded Deidara and were fighting. Frightened for his life, she screamed at them to stop, that resulting only in distracting Deidara from the fight, and giving the advantage to one of the villagers to hit him. Deidara fell on to the ground, bleeding a lot, while the others kicked him when he was down.

Aira rushed there, pushing the villagers aside and kneeling next to the badly hurt Deidara.

"Deidara, are you okay? Please, answer me" she whispered, while she cradled his head into her arms.

"I am sorry, Aira. It seems I can not keep to my promise. But I want you to know that I lied. I do know what I feel about you. It was love at first sight. I love you,un" he said in a hushed voice, putting his hand on her cheek and looking at her with a smile on his face.

"I love you too, Deidara. You'll see that everything will be fine. You will get better and then we can travel everywhere you want." She said, tears falling down her cheeks and onto his hand and face.

"Don't cry, un." He said, wiping her tears, when suddenly he closed his eyes and his hand fell limply to his side. Aira shaked him, but he didn't stir a bit. She hugged him close and…"

"Why does he have to die.? I do not want him to die. Every time you say the story, he dies" the girl interrupted the story, complaining about the blondes' death.

"If you let me finish the story, you will find out what will happen" the grandma said

"So, sit down and let me…" again the lady was interrupted, but this time by her son, entering with his wife. Her son was blonde and had blue eyes, while his wife was a red-head with soft green eyes.

"Hi, mom. How are you? We just came after the kids. Come on, rascals, time to leave grandma to rest. I just came from my sister. She said that she will come tomorrow in a visit with some of your favorite cake." He said while picking his boy from his mother lap. "I see that dad still doesn't listen to me and rest. Well, we'll be coming again tomorrow and we will stay the whole day. Good night, mother" he said, kissing his mother on the cheek and taking his kids with them.

After they left, the lady just sat down again and looked at the fire with a sad look on her face. Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her from behind.

"Why so sad, my love?" asked her husband

"Again they didn't let me finish the story." She answered

"Next time, honey, next time. For now, could you bring me dinner? I am tired from the fire wood. Oh, and I love you, Aira" said her husband while sitting down at the table.

"I love you too, Deidara" answered the old lady, looking at her one and only prince

with the same love in her eyes as in the beginning.


End file.
